Court mandates the establishment of exclusive POCSO Courts and improved forensic facilities to address delays in child sexual abuse cases, emphasizing adherence to statutory timelines for trials.

JUDGMENT :

BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.

1. This Court vide the order dated 12.07.2019 had directed the Registry to register a Suo Moto Writ Petition under the caption “In Re Alarming rise in the number of reported child rape incidents,” and requested the Learned Senior Counsel Mr. V. Giri to assist the Court in formulating the directions that may be required to be issued. The said cognizance was taken by the Court in view of the various news reports with regard to the increase of child rape cases in India. Accordingly, the Court after hearing the

Learned Amicus Curiae Mr. V. Giri, the Solicitor General Mr. Tushar Mehta and the Registrar Mr. Rathi, on the timely completion of investigations and consequential Trials of the offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) gave certain directions vide the Order dated 25.07.2019. The said directions are reproduced hereinbelow: -

ORDER

“Having considered the matter, we have deemed it proper to issue the following directions, which will be implemented by the Union of India and the State Governments forthwith: -

(i) In each district of the country, if there are more than 100 cases under the POCSO Act, an exclusive/designated special Court will be set up, which will try no other offence except those under the POCSO Act.

(ii) Such Courts will be set up under a Central scheme and will be funded by the Central Government, which fund will not only take care of the appointment of the Presiding Officer, but also the appointments of support persons, Special Public Prosecutors, Court staff and infrastructure including creation of child friendly environment and vulnerable witness Court rooms, etc.

(iii) While drawing up the panel(s) of support persons in each district which should not exceed a reasonable number keeping in mind the total number of cases to be tried by the special Court to be set up in each district, care should be taken to appoint persons who are dedicated to the cause and apart from academic qualifications are oriented towards child rights; are sensitive to the needs of a child and are otherwise child friendly. The same standards would also apply in the matter of appointment of Special Public Prosecutors.

(iv) The following suggestions of the learned Amicus Curiae shall also be implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development through such agency as may be considered appropriate: -

“(e) A short clip intended to spread an awareness of the subject in general, namely, prevention of child abuse and prosecution of crimes against children, should necessarily be screened in every movie hall and could also be transmitted by various television channels at regular intervals. A child helpline number should also be displayed not only in such clip but also at various other prominent places, in schools and other public places.”

From the reports of the learned Amicus Curiae, it appears to us that one of the major causes of delay in winding up the investigations and in cases where chargesheets have been filed, in winding up the trial, is delay in receipt of the reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory. The learned Amicus Curiae’s suggestion is that there should be designated Forensic Science Laboratories in every district of the country for the purposes of the POCSO Act. We are of the view that the said suggestion could await orders of the Court at a later stage.

For the present, we direct the Directors of the State Forensic Science Laboratories and the concerned authority in the State Government to ensure that the existing and available Forensic Science Laboratories in each State will function in an effective manner insofar as analysis etc. of the samples collected under the POCSO Act are concerned and reports of such a